Serbia passes a special bill enabling Trump's son-in-law to build luxury
compound despite opposition
[November 08, 2025] By
JOVANA GEC
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian lawmakers on Friday passed a special law
clearing the way for a controversial real estate project that would be
financed by an investment company linked to Donald Trump’s son-in-law
Jared Kushner despite widespread public opposition and legal hurdles.
The project seeks to redevelop a landmark military complex in central
Belgrade that was partially destroyed in a NATO bombing campaign in
1999, turning it into a luxury compound with a high-rise hotel, offices
and shops.
The special bill was approved with a 130-40 vote in the 250-member
parliament after days of heated parliamentary debate and street protests
by opponents.
Serbia’s government last year stripped the complex of its protected
status and signed a 99-year-lease agreement with Kushner-related
Affinity Global Development, based in the U.S. But the project stalled
after Serbia’s organized crime prosecutors launched an investigation
into whether documents used to remove that status were forged.
While the pro-Trump populist government of President Aleksandar Vucic
says the project would boost both the economy and ties with the current
U.S. administration, the plan has met fierce opposition from experts
because of the building’s architectural significance — and because it is
seen a symbol of resistance to the U.S.-led NATO bombing, widely viewed
in the Balkan country as an unjust “aggression.”
The special law, known as Lex Specialis in Latin, allows authorities to
push forward work on the site, including demolition of what remains of
the two sprawling buildings seen as prime examples of mid-20th century
architecture in the former Yugoslavia.
The bill does not mention Kushner’s company or details of any future
development projects.
“We are demolishing the ruins in order to build,” populist Serbian
Progressive Party lawmaker Milenko Jovanov said in defense of the
project during the debate.
Critics say the special bill undermines Serbia’s legal system.
Corruption watchdog Transparency Serbia has warned it “represents a
combination of the two most dangerous forms of corruption — the
legalization of law violations and the tailoring of general rules to fit
hidden interests in one specific case.”
Vucic has claimed the ongoing judicial investigation was launched based
on demands from abroad to "prevent Serbia from establishing better
relations with the Trump administration.”
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A former Yugoslav army headquarters destroyed in a U.S.-led NATO
bombing campaign in 1999, left, is seen in Belgrade, Serbia,
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
 The $500-million luxury compound
project would include a high-rise hotel, a luxury apartment complex,
office spaces and shops. Authorities say Kushner’s company has
committed to building a memorial complex within the site, dedicated
to all victims of the NATO bombing campaign.
As the debate started earlier this week, hundreds of protesters
rallied outside the Serbian parliament building with banners
reading: “Culture is not for sale, we will not give up the general
staff" building.
Opposition lawmaker Aleksandar Jovanovic described the law as a
“crime” that would replace a heritage site with “casinos and
Jacuzzis.”
Zdravko Ponos, a former Serbian army commander-in-chief who is now
an opposition party leader, told lawmakers from the governing party
that “you will demolish something that is a symbol for this nation.”
“With the agreement you signed with the most important son-in-law on
the planet, you have obliged to tear this down and clear at the cost
of Serbia's taxpayers,” Ponos said.
Serbia was bombed in 1999 for 78 days to force then-President
Slobodan Milosevic, to end his crackdown on separatist ethnic
Albanians in Kosovo. Anti-NATO sentiments in Serbia remain strong to
this day and many feel the U.S. role in revamping the army
headquarters is particularly sensitive.
In the past year, Vucic has faced youth-led protests shaking his
grip on power. Protesters have accused his government of rampant
corruption in state projects. The protests started after a concrete
canopy collapsed at a train station in the northern city of Novi Sad
after renovation, killing 16 people.
Tens of thousands of people on Nov. 1 marked the tragedy's
anniversar y in the city of Novi Sad.
Earlier this year, the government in Albania, another Balkan
country, approved a $1.6 billion plan from Kushner’s company for
investment off its Adriatic coast that envisages turning a
communist-era fortified island into a luxury resort.
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